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Right before Christmas last year the Government quietly announced that the launch of Open Banking would be delayed by seven months from 1 July 2019 to 1 February 2020. The ACCC also delayed the release of draft Consumer Data Right (CDR) Rules to the first quarter of 2019, instead releasing a Rules Outline outlining what it proposes to include in the draft rules

This is a service specifically targeted at the needs of busy non-executive directors. We aim to give you a “heads up” on the things that matter for NEDs in the week ahead – all in two minutes or less.

2019 starts with continued macro political and economic uncertainty, while closer to home we have the final report of the Financial Services Royal Commission expected in March and a federal election in May. Coupled with moves by a number of our key regulators to adopt a much tougher approach to enforcement, 2019 seems set to be a challenging year for Directors to navigate.

Against the backdrop of the Royal Commission, fintechs and start-ups are presented with significant opportunities to shape new business models while established institutions face the challenge of redesigning their existing commercial strategies and capabilities. With the upcoming advent of the Open Banking regime, there is a growing awareness of the impact this will have on the financial services industry and the importance of digital platforms through which customer data will be accessed.

It's a time of much uncertainty for the equity capital markets community as a result of the cases being brought by the ACCC and ASIC in relation to the ANZ capital raising in 2015. ASIC’s report 605 gives almost no guidance on when disclosure is required in relation to a shortfall, however it does give guidance on two important issues: allocation processes and bookbuild messaging.

ASIC has issued an announcement affecting foreign financial services providers (FFSPs) that rely on “passport” class order relief or on “limited connection” relief from the requirement to hold an AFSL. ASIC will be proceeding with the proposal to repeal these relief instruments and implement a new regime which will require FFSPs to apply for a foreign AFSL, the details of which have not yet been announced.

For the first time, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) is closing all of its offices (Perth and regional) over the Christmas to New Year period (from Monday, 24 December 2018 to Wednesday, 2 January 2019, both inclusive). Over the counter hard copy transactions will not be possible from Monday, 24 December 2018 to Wednesday, 2 January 2019. Normal services will resume on 3 January 2019.

Welcome to Edition 93 of Boardroom Brief. This is a service specifically targeted at the needs of busy non-executive directors. We aim to give you a “heads up” on the things that matter for NEDs in the week ahead – all in two minutes or less.

This case is a reminder of the potentially devastating commercial consequences of knowingly assisting in breaches of fiduciary duties owed by employees to their former employers to protect business connections and other confidential information. In this case, the High Court ordered a business to account for its entire capital value of $14.8 million which included both actual and anticipated profits, and profits which may not have been the ‘direct result’ of knowing assistance in the breach.

In November 2018, the European Data Protection Board formally adopted new draft guidelines on the territorial scope of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. The guidelines are currently subject to a public consultation process.

The guidelines are designed to provide “a common interpretation” and clarification of the territorial scope of the GDPR, in particular where the relevant data controller or processor is established outside of the EU. This update summarises some of the key takeaways.

The Government’s contentious encryption legislation (Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Act 2018 (Cth)) passed both houses of Parliament late Thursday (6 December), the last Parliamentary sitting day of 2018. The Act commenced on 9 December.

Recent changes to casual employee rights, modern awards and proposed changes to contractor arrangements will impact all employers. In this update we take a look at the changes that came into effect from 1 December 2018 and what you need to be aware of if you are undertaking a review of your current policies and contracts to ensure you are compliant with the new provisions.